Chinatown: A Neo-Noir Film With Modern Edge and Sensibility

film noir, mystery

2:10

1974

Review by Brandon Talks Movies on Oct 20, 2017

Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.

It’s not often that you come across a movie with a brilliant and absolutely flawless script. The Godfather and Casablanca fall into this category, and I had heard a lot about them growing up. But I had never even heard of Chinatown until I started putting my list together. Directed by Roman Polanski (The Pianist, Rosemary’s Baby) and starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway, this is a film noir/mystery with a modern bite, and the script is absolutely amazing. In fact, most screenwriting classes and workshops will at least reference Chinatown. The mystery is great and keeps you guessing, and in true film noir fashion, it can get pretty dark. But this is a brilliant and entertaining movie that should be watched by any film fan.

The plot follows Jake Gittes, a private investigator, as he’s hired by a woman to find evidence of her husband’s infidelities. The man ends up being Hollis Mulwray, who is in charge of Los Angeles’s water system and in the middle of an important decision on building a new reservoir to end a drought in Los Angeles. Jake quickly finds that all is not as it seems when he finds himself slapped with a lawsuit for investigating Hollis, and when Hollis is found dead, Jake quickly grows close to his widow, Evelyn. He uncovers a conspiracy that involves the entire city, and spends most of the movie getting to the bottom of it.

You may think you know what you’re dealing with, but believe me, you don’t.

The mystery in Chinatown is great, but other aspects of the writing are equally amazing. Gittes’s tactics in his investigative work are fascinating, and his character equally so. The dialogue is smart and snappy and really feels like something out of a 1940s film noir. There’s even symbolism and foreshadowing buried in there for those inclined to look. I’m making this sound like an English major study piece, but the film is highly entertaining as well. The writing succeeds on every level, and the production is great as well. It’s hard for me to think of movies that get as many things right as this one.

Following in the footsteps of other films noir, this film is dark and its main character dubious. Jake Gittes was at one point an upstanding police officer, but we catch glimpses of why he’s no longer doing that and why he’s so disillusioned right now. We also catch glimpses of failed relationships everywhere in this movie, and, while not worn thin, there’s enough detail to really make them feel real. The ending truly shocked me. I don’t want to give anything away, but at one point, I thought I had everything figured out and I was dead wrong.

Should I Watch Chinatown?

In many ways, Chinatown comes at the end of an era: an era where movie-making was about telling great stories rather than following tested Hollywood formulae. This movie would not be made today. As such, it may be a bit shocking to modern audiences who expect the neat Hollywood ending and the clear delineation between the good guys and the bad guys. But the film is brilliant and very competent in its execution. I would recommend this to anyone who would be interested in a dark, gritty detective piece unfettered by modern Hollywood trappings, as well as anyone who appreciates brilliant screenwriting.

Movies Like Chinatown

L.A. Confidential (1997) - This is a close spiritual successor to Chinatown—both are neo-noir films set in L.A., and both have a cynical tone—but L.A. Confidential delivers 90s action, making it a more exciting watch. While Chinatown is bleak and hopeless, L.A. Confidential offers a glimmer of hope and redemption—which can be a positive or a negative, depending on how you look at it. Either way, if you want noir styling with modern sensibility, L.A. Confidential should be on your watch list.
The Conversation (1974) - Crime and criminals were a hot topic in the 70s, after the Manson murders and the Watergate scandal, so films about the depths of human depravity were common. Though The Conversation isn’t a noir film, it similarly deals with the darkness in humanity and powerlessness in the face of a large system of injustice. It’s a little more introspective than Chinatown, but delivers the same paranoia, moral decay, and disillusionment.
The Long Goodbye (1975) - Both Chinatown and The Long Goodbye show us a broken world full of evil and injustice, but the latter gives us a different perspective. While Jake in Chinatown cares and tries to solve things, resulting in tragedy, Philip in The Long Goodbye has a smug indifference, and that commitment to indifference becomes a moral stance as the film moves on. The tone is more satirical and the design more fantastic, but both neo-noir films are great counterparts to each other.

Academy Awards

Winner: Best Original Screenplay

Nominee: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Set Design, Best Costume Design, Best Sound, Best Film Editing, Best Music - Original Score

Runtime: 2:10
Director: Roman Polanski
Year: 1974
Genres: film noir, mystery
Rating: R

About Brandon

My name is Brandon, and I love movies. Not bad ones, though—just the good ones. I’m curating and reviewing a list of classic, essential-viewing, or just plain good movies from all decades, and I've been reviewing them since 2016. I also co-host Peculiar Picture Show, a podcast about movies and mental health and write about Dungeons & Dragons options, builds, and optimization.

Chinatown: A Neo-Noir Film With Modern Edge and Sensibility

Should I Watch Chinatown?

Movies Like Chinatown

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